Chaska shooting victims were suspect's ex-girlfriend and father

The 38-year-old man arrested Friday in Jordan after a manhunt that lasted more than 14 hours shot his ex-girlfriend inside her family home in Chaska, then ran outside and shot his own father, authorities said.

Both victims remain hospitalized in critical condition, but are expected to survive, Chaska Police Chief Scott Knight said at a news conference Friday afternoon.

A citizen's tip led them to Joshua L. Gilpin at his family home in the 300 block of 2nd Street W. late Friday morning. He was arrested without incident and taken to the Carver County jail, where he awaits charges.

Knight said Gilpin is suspected of shooting Heidi Sue Robling, his 29-year-old ex-girlfriend, about 9:30 p.m. Thursday inside her parents' home in the 3600 block of County Road 140, on the west side of Chaska. He had gone to the home, accompanied by his father, to return his 4-year-old son to Robling, the boy's mother, after a visit.

Gilpin's 60-year-old father, Robert Raymond Gilpin, had driven him there and was waiting outside when Gilpin ran outside and shot him, police said.

He then fled the scene on foot, police said. A handgun was found at the scene.

The large, ranch-style home where the shooting occurred sits on 10 acres of mostly wooded land. Knight said that Robling was staying there with her parents, who were home when the shooting began and called 911. They and the 4-year-old were not hurt.

Robling was shot in the neck, police said. The senior Gilpin was shot several times, they said, though they did not say where. The two were taken to Two Twelve Medical Center in Chaska, then to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

"We are very relieved that it's over, that the victims will live," Knight said. "And we're very, very relieved that he's in jail."

He said there is no indication that Gilpin's father knew of any plans on his son's part.

Early Friday afternoon, Bill Hudson, a reporter for WCCO-TV, Channel 4, said in a tweet that he had approached Joshua Gilpin sitting under an apple tree in his family's backyard just as "cops roll in guns drawn ordering him to the ground!" Hudson said he had walked up to Gilpin "not knowing it was him — minutes later he's in custody. Wow!"

Video posted by KSTP-TV, Channel 5, showed at least three officers surrounding Gilpin as he tilted back in a patio chair and drank a canned beverage. He stood up, then was ordered to the ground by officers with their guns drawn, handcuffed and escorted to a Jordan police squad car.

Jake Landree, who lives across from Joshua Galpin, said he knows little about the suspect, who lives at the home with his parents.

"They've lived there for many years; they seem like a nice bunch of people," he said.

Knight said the younger Gilpin has no history with the Chaska police, and that he is not aware of any orders for protection in the case. Public records show he has a number of driving violations, including multiple DWIs.

Star Tribune photographers Leila Navidi and Shari Gross contributed to this report. Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482